The Evolution of Mushroom
by TabooV2
Summary: Taking place before the Mario games, 17-year old Mario and his brother Luigi gets invited to the mysterious Princess Peach's party, where they are introduced to the wild, illegal, but highly addicting world of Mushrooms and Power Stars.
1. Party

A/N: This story takes place in Mario's teenage years before Peach, Bowser, and the Mario brothers met. As a warning, this story is rated T for drug use and language. Enjoy.

1

PARTY

There was a clang-like noise that sounded when the para-koopa mailman dropped some mail into the red and green painted mailbox. Seventeen year old Mario, clad in his baggy washed out denim jeans and red shirt, had his legs crossed in front of him on his bed. He was reading his books for class, trying to move the chore of homework off the list of things to do before the weekend. He didn't even stir at the sound of the mailbox, that was his younger brother, Luigi's job to worry about. They were a team, but Mario managed the hands-on work and Luigi handled things such as bills, sorting the mail, and keeping up with housework. So when the alerting sound of the mailbox chimed through the morning, Luigi, who had been up since early, shot up from his place at his desk, where he preferred to do his homework, and ran out the front door to retrieve the mail.

He swung open the colorful mailbox, scooping out a handful of letters, and with a slam of the tiny mailbox door, he headed back inside while skimming through the envelopes. He was sure most of them were bills and weekly notices that regularly were delivered to Mushroom Kingdom's residents. But he paused when he reached the bottom of the pile and discovered an invitation enveloped in bright pink paper. Just the feel of it was rich and heavy and Luigi quickly rushed in the house, tossing the other mail aside and holding it in his hands.

"What's the excitement for?" came Mario's voice. Their room was right by the front door so he was able to hear Luigi's rushed, eager movements clearly. Setting his homework aside, he rolled off of his bed and came into the kitchen to see what the commotion was all about.

"Look," Luigi said, holding the letter in front of him. A message written in thick black ink scrolled across the front of the envelope citing: _To The Mario Brothers From The Royal Court._ This was enough to gain Mario's interest and he urged Luigi to quickly open the invitation and read it. Neatly splitting open the pretty pink envelope, he retrieved the parchment inside and read it.

"What does it say?" Mario asked.

Luigi smiled, though he didn't look quite as excited as before, "It's an invitation for the two of us," Mario nodded for him to continue, "The Princess of Mushroom Kingdom is coming of age all this weekend and she is hosting a formal birthday at the castle."

Mario felt like he could die with excitement, "A party? This weekend?"

"Yeah," Luigi said, setting the invitation down on the kitchen table. He obviously wasn't interested in going, for he just walked back to his room to finish his homework, "You should go. It starts tonight."

Mario followed his brother into the bedroom, snatching the invitation from the kitchen table to bring with him, "You have to come with me," he protested. He was tired of Luigi being anti social. He never went out and almost never talked to anyone when they went to school. If it weren't for the similar looks, you would never even have guessed they were related. Luigi was quite and responsible. Mario was energetic and spontaneous.

Luigi shrugged, opening back up his books, "I just don't see the point in partying _all _weekend long just to celebrate a birthday."

"Bro, have you seen Peach?" Mario asked. 'Peach' had been the nickname the residents of Mushroom Kingdom had adapted to since she was a child, because of the notorious mishap that happened when the princess was six and had gotten lost at the Peach Festival. The entire kingdom had been on high alert to find her, only to find out she had sneaked away to dig into some crates of peaches. The kingdom was relieved to have found their young princess, but her nickname stuck through the years.

Luigi nodded, not looking up from his work.

"I mean _really _saw her, as in just recently."

Luigi had to think back for a while. Princess Peach was never allowed outside the castle gates except for festivals or formal appearances, but even then to catch a glimpse of her was rare. She was always surrounded by dozens of castle attendants and was usually ushered away from crowds. This was expected to stop when Peach turned sixteen, when she inherited her independence and she would be free to move about Mushroom Kingdom.

"I haven't seen her for a while, no," Luigi admitted.

"She gorgeous," Mario said. He had a thing for the ladies, but the Princess had caught his particular attention just recently, "I saw her when she went to a conference in Sarasaland."

"I didn't know about any conference there."

"It was during the day," Mario explained, "In the middle of the week, so a lot of people were at work and school."

"Why weren't _you _in school?" Luigi snapped.

"Relax," Mario defended, "It was a month ago. What I'm saying is she's _beautiful._ The most beautiful I've ever seen."

"So I've heard," Luigi agreed,

"This is the weekend that everyone is going to attend. Every guy of age is coming to this party, all in the hopes to impress the Princess."

Luigi had to laugh, and he paused to tilt his head back and get a good chuckle out of Mario's enthusiasm, "Princess Peach may be gorgeous," he started, "But I'm not into the 'princess' type."

"Ok..." Mario said shortly, but wasn't giving up that easily, "So maybe you'll meet someone else, the not-so-princess-type."

Luigi shook his head, "I have work to do this weekend."

"No," Mario said, and he proved his point by slamming Luigi's book closed, getting his attention, "You're here every weekend, it will be good to get out."

"I don't feel like going to a party that's going to last the entire weekend."

"That's fine," Mario negotiated, "So come for just tonight. I'll make it even better and get us a Super Mushroom."

Luigi shifted in his chair. He was aware of his older brother dabbling with mushroom use. Possessing and eating mushrooms was illegal, even in a kingdom called Mushroom. But Luigi was never concerned with Mario experimenting with them. A lot of high school kids tried it and it didn't seem to cause a problem. But Luigi didn't want to be one of those people who counted on mushrooms to have a fun time.

"I'll go to the party tonight," Luigi started, "I'll hang around, maybe even a bit more if I like it. But tomorrow I have chores to do and I don't think it's a good idea if we munched on a Super Mushroom at royal party."

Mario sniggered, "Royal party? This is the Princess' coming of age party...it's going to be wild. The Princess wants it to be fun, so everyone will make it fun...it won't be some formal boring cocktail party with dull music."

"You don't know that," Luigi protested.

"It says on the invitation: 'Formal Attire not required.' It's going to be great."

"Alright, but you know my standards. Take it or leave it."

Mario nodded, "Fine," he swung his head back to look at the clock. The minute hand had just cradled itself onto the twelve, marking the time to be eleven in the morning, "We have six hours before the party. Let's start getting ready."

M*M*M

Mario had cleaned up a bit. He still wore blue denim jeans, but they weren't as baggy and covered his long toned legs. He wore a long-sleeve shirt in his favorite color: red. He didn't have a beard yet, but his mustache grew in about a year ago. Mario hated his mustache, he thought it made him seem older, so he shaved it off for the party. His hair, which was brown and wavy, was swept neatly on top of his head.

Luigi didn't have facial hair yet, so shaving wasn't something he did to get ready. He wore a darker pair of denim pants, a green sweater, and his shoulder-length brown hair was tied back so he seemed more presentable.

The two of them sat by the front door to slip into their perfectly white sneakers before heading out to the party. The sun was just beginning to dip behind the peaks of Ice Mountain, darkening the streets of Mushroom Kingdom. The street lights began to flicker as Mario and Luigi walked down to the party. There was an unusual amount of traffic walking around, most of them teenagers headed to the party of the weekend. This was getting Mario pumped up, and he couldn't stop talking about it the entire walk to the castle.

Luigi nodded, unsure about the enthusiasm Mario was portraying. He was convinced the party wasn't going to be a good scene for him and he would just leave before it got late.

As they reached the castle, there was a long line to get in. The line stretched out to the gates and there were castle guards handing out refreshments and thin parchments around the line and small maps of the castle.

"Look, Luigi," said Mario as he pointed at the parchment handed to him, "Since the party is so long, there are other things to do besides dance and eat."

This must have captured Luigi's interest, for he took the parchment from Mario and read the list of party activities. Anyone at the party could go mini-golfing in the courtyard, tours of the castle, cake eating contests, and there was even rooms guests could rent if they wanted to stay the night. Mario quickly convinced Luigi to rent a room out.

"This party is huge," Mario said, "It will be easier to have a room instead of walking back and forth."

Luigi had to admit that he would probably stay at the party longer than he originally thought, so he agreed to purchase a room for the night. As they reached the party's door, they handed in their invitation to the castle guard at the door.

"There are no more rooms to rent for the party," said the guard. Normally, the castle employed Toads as guards, but this one was a green-shelled Koopa. He looked funny for a Koopa. He was tall, green-shelled, with shaggy red hair. He looked almost human because of how long his arms and legs were. In fact, if it weren't for his abnormally sharp teeth, green shell, and tail, he could almost pass for human.

Mario has seen this Koopa before. Not in school, just around. He just couldn't remember his name.

"I know you from somewhere," Mario said to the Koopa. He locked his eyes with Mario. Even though the color was red and frightening, they were softened by youth and determination, "I think I've seen you around the Toadstool Bar."

The Koopa blinked at this comment. The Toadstool Bar wasn't a place for teenagers, and the only teenagers who hung around there were only there for one thing: Super Mushrooms. When he realized this, he called over another castle guard. This one was a Toad and he immediately took over the Koopa's position of checking the invitations.

Following the brothers into the castle, he led them down the corridor to the ballroom. Grand sounds from instruments were pulsing from the party, pumping the teenagers eager to have fun even more. As the doors swung open, the Koopa turned to Mario.

"Follow me to the punch bowl?" he asked him.

Mario nodded and turned to Luigi, "I'll get you some punch," he told him and he followed the Koopa to the punch bowl, where a transaction quickly took place. Mario whipped out a pouch full of gold coins, reaching inside and counting out eighty of them. With a swift movement, he handed them to the Koopa, who gave him two Super Mushrooms discreetly.

"How strong are these?" Mario asked.

"The strongest I've had for a while," the Koopa said, "You only need maybe a quarter, maybe a half if you _really _want to have fun."

The party was going on for more than two nights, so he wasn't planning on eating the mushrooms right away. He was more interested in seeing the Princess. What he really needed to do was loosen his younger brother up more. Pouring a cup of punch, he took out the mushroom and crushed it up, sprinkling it in the punch and mixing it.

"Are you trying to kill someone with that?" the Koopa said, pointing at the punch.

Mario laughed off his comment, "Thanks for the mushrooms," he said, taking the punch back to his brother. He shoved through a small crowd of teenage party-goers to find his brother by the grand staircase. Luigi was shuffling his white sneaker into the tile floor, an obvious sign of boredom.

"You are the only person who can get bored at a party in all of ten minutes."

Luigi laughed, taking the punch from his brother, "Everyone seems so hype, so ready to go crazy," he said, bringing the cup to his lips, but lowered it as his thought deepened, "Isn't _anyone _here to just offer their celebrations to the Princess's birthday?"

Mario shrugged, "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, Luigi. And a lot of people are going to treat it that way."

Luigi shrugged, bringing the cup to his lips and taking a big gulp. He choked a little, but managed to swallow it, "This is horrible punch."

Mario wanted to laugh, "Drink up," he snickered, "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity."


	2. Peach

2

PEACH

Mario had bobbed his head to three songs before he got bored with the music. Peach was nowhere to be found and Luigi wasn't feeling the effects of the Super Mushroom yet. He mingled around the party with some of his friends from school and quickly got word of a kid from the senior class passing spiked sodas in the mess hall.

Heading up the grand stair case, Mario followed the makeshift signs placed around the castle corridors directing guests to different party events. He followed the arrows directing him to the mess hall to find the senior he was told about. It was fairly easy to find him, since there was a group that crowded him ordering spiked sodas. He stood in line for a minute and was handed a purple glass bottle, filled to the top. Popping the top, Mario sucked down half the bottle, slowly making his way to the corridors so he could find his way back to the party.

As he left the mess hall, he was stopped by a voice calling after him, "If the castle guards catches wind about the spiked sodas, everyone could get thrown out."

As Mario turned to see who had addressed him, he was surprised to find it to be a young woman, obviously close in age with him. She had strikingly bright blue eyes, soft heart-shape pink lips, and a perfect figure. Just the sight of the girl stopped Mario in his tracks.

"I'm sure he'll be done passing these sodas soon," he replied, "A lot of people are getting some."

The girl smiled, perfect white teeth peeking between her soft pouting mouth, "I don't understand the excitement for spiked soda."

"I guess you haven't tried any before. It's a good party drink, that's why it's being passed around."

She nodded, "I see. I don't attend many parties, so I wouldn't know."

Mario took another sip and offered for the girl to try some. She shook her head, but still smiled. There was a burst of cheers coming from the mess hall, followed by a stampede of teenagers flooding the corridors, rushing off to down the halls.

"What's going on?" the girl said, gently tucking a lock of her golden hair behind her ear.

Mario went to find out, asking one of the teens running from the mess hall.

"Some kid says he found out where the princess's bedroom is," the teen said. His eyes were glazed over, completely drunk from the spiked soda in his hand, "They went to go see if it's true."

The teen took another gulp and lazily ran after the group of teens. The girl giggled at how silly the situation is and then turned back to Mario and said, "They are going the wrong way. The princess's room is the other way."

He was taken aback by this and he looked at her in disbelief, "You _know?_"

With a nod, the girl took Mario's wrist, pulling him the direction of the princess's room. Mario followed more because he was intrigued that this beautiful young woman was touching him than the fact that he would see bedroom where the princess could be in. She led him around the corner, up two long flights of stairs before coming to a door in the middle of the third floor.

The door was tall, wide and white with a pink trim. It definitely appeared to be an important room. Standing in front of it made Mario feel uneasy. He didn't want to get in trouble with the castle guards and get thrown from the party.

"Why are we here, anyway?" Mario asked.

The girl laughed and put her hand on the doorknob, "Just because those other kids couldn't find it," she twisted the door knob, opening the door. Flicking on the light, the room flooded with the color pink, "Doesn't it feel good to be the cool ones?"

Mario smiled. The girl had a sense of humor and adventure, and he was liking it a lot. Stepping into the room, they closed the door a bit so they could hear if someone was coming and scouted out the room. It was definitely a Princess's room. There was the largest bed he'd ever seen by the far end of the room, next to the glass doors leading to the balcony. There were chandeliers, a grand fire place, and dozens of jewelry boxes on the dresser. The entire room screamed 'royalty.'

"Her favorite color must be pink," Mario joked as he looked at the dozen shades of pink blending in the room.

"Actually, I think I heard it's blue," the girl said, seeming uninterested in poking at any of the princess's fine belongings.

"You sure do know a lot about the princess," Mario commented as he walked along the wall, meeting the door to the closet. Twisting the door knob, he pushed it open. Lights automatically flickered on, revealing the yards of formal dresses hung around the gigantic closet. He had never seen so many dresses, so it looked odd. Stepping into the closet, his eyes found the portrait of the princess hanging on the back wall above the dresses. He took a moment to stare at the royal beauty. Her face was absolutely divine. But as he locked eyes with the portrait, Mario's jaw dropped as he recognized her.

Rushing back into the bedroom, he faced the girl who had brought them here, pointing back at the portrait, but in a loss of words to say. The girl giggled, "I guess you saw the portrait," Mario nodded, but still said nothing, "Does this surprise you?"

Mario didn't know how to answer. He had came to this party for the sole opportunity to meet the princess and there she was standing before him, even invited him into her room.

"Why did you pretend you were just a guest?" Mario asked.

The Princess shrugged, "I guess I wanted to attend a real party without being followed."

"Followed? But don't you get to do what you want now that you're of age?"

The Princess shook her head, a hint of disappointment tugging at her pretty face, "Not exactly," she explained, "I can leave and I'm free to move about all I want, but I have to have an attendant with me."

"That's a shame," Mario sympathized.

She laughed, "It is, but it's my fault, mainly. I have been overly protected since this thing that happened when I was six...at a peach festival."

Mario tilted his head back in laughter, "I've heard that story, that's why they call you Peach, right?" he suddenly stopped laughing, realizing how disrespectful it must have sounded to speak that way in front of the princess, but she didn't seem insulted.

"Yes, everyone heard this story," she said, laughing too.

"But that was so long ago."

"Yes, but I've been in even bigger trouble since then."

"Oh," Mario said, wondering about the mystery of Princess Peach. She was so heavily guarded her entire life, her own kingdom hardly knew much about her, "That must suck...a lot..."

Peach smiled, looking down and seeming to blush a bit. Mario couldn't help but notice how cute she looked when she did this. Quickly wiping the blush from her cheeks, she looked up, smiling, "What's your name?"

Mario took the last sip of his spike soda, "I'm Mario."

"Mario..." she repeated, softly as though she liked the way it sounded, "You can call me Peach."

M*M*M

No one talked to Luigi. He was used to this, of course, because no one talked to him at school either. He was used to not being noticed too much. But it was bugging him when he was being ignored at a place he didn't need to be at. He wondered why Mario wanted him to be more social. Wasn't it more effective for him to just be out of the way?

He helped himself to the refreshments. He managed to get two more cups of punch door before picking at the finger foods. He tried not to eat too much, but it was hard due to his boredom. Where was Mario, anyway? He needed to find him so he could let him know he was leaving soon. He decided it was better to be home getting chores done then loitering at a party with too much hype.

He started walking up the grand staircase, since that's where he saw his brother disappear to last. The stairs seemed to go on forever, stretching and pulsing. Actually, the stairs was beginning to look misshapen. Each step was a different length, different height, the surfaces rippling. Luigi stopped to stare at the steps for a moment. It was strange, yet he was seeing the stairs move right in front of him. He couldn't make sense of it.

He looked up at the walls. They bulged outwards, squeezing the air and space out of the hallway before snapping back like a rubber band back to normal. Luigi's heart raced in his chest as he noticed this. What was going on? He ran up the stairs before he noticed any unusual movements again. He had to find Mario, he was convinced something was slipped in his drink.


End file.
